Needy People Are Needed People

Needy People

Are Needed People

Last week we saw how we are needy people. Not even Elijah, the great prophet of God, carried an independent heart even after he had seen God incinerate his offering then slayed the 450 prophets of Baal.

But, we are also needed people.

Needed People

We know that God created and sustains all things by the word of His power (Col. 1:14). He doesn't need us. However, his very nature as triune, Father, Son and Spirit, tells us something beautiful about the make-up of his church. Each person of the godhead submits to the other in love. God is a perfect community in and of himself!

It's no wonder that he would pattern a bride for the Son after his manner of relating: loving submission to one another. Gifted and empowered by the Holy Spirit, we extend gifts of grace to one another.

I remember one night, about 2-3 months after I had arrived at boarding school. I arrived in the second semester and moved into a dormitory with 15 other high school students. That night the fun had worn off and the homesickness had finally begun to hit. It sunk in that I was away from my parents all the time. The other kids in my dorm and class had established their friendships and I was late to the party. Now, it could have been the beginning of a really sad, really awful high school experience. But, a senior dorm brother sat on the floor in my room that night and asked me how I was doing. I think he may have even cried with me while I shared with him how hard things were. That senior dorm brother took an late incoming freshman under his wing. He listened, he cared, and he encouraged me with his presence. I needed mercy, grace, compassion and courage. He extended those gifts of grace to me when I needed them most.

Make the Distance Short

So, it's like that. We are needed people. And that's why we are hospitable. That's why we make the distance short between the door of our life and a meal or cup of coffee. That's how RIC is meant to be...welcoming. Because we who have the Spirit of God alive in us, having been welcomed by his grace, are needed. Needed by the lonely, the hurting, the broken, and the weary, the struggling, the sad and the sinful.

  • Take a look at Romans 12:4-6.

  • How are you seeing this passage lived out in our church these days?

  • This week, what would it look like to use the gifts of grace you've been given, for the good of another?

  • Comment on this post or email pastor Loren and tell us how it goes. What happened?

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